A great deal of input, time and resources are consumed to produce a company’s strategic plan. Sure a strong attention to detail is paramount to deliver a detailed strategic plan, however the value of the summarised executive Dashboard reports are often understated.

There are many elements that form a company’s corporate governance structure. The Cadbury Committee (1992) in the UK defined corporate governance as “the system by which companies are directed and controlled”. Clearly a best-practice financial model forms the basis of executive management decision making and future direction of the company.

Much is written about the value-add of a best practice financial model, in terms of reducing model risk and improving financial reporting for executives; especially with commercial and business decision making.

There are a number of steps to reduce the repetitive data inputting of information. Not only will you save time during the model development stage, and whilst operating the model for commercial purposes, you will reduce the risk of data input errors and enhance executive and other stakeholder confidence with the model.

A peer review of a financial model is process that is often overlooked in the model development process. Even if a review is conducted, the reviewer does not spend enough time reviewing nor sees the added value in the review. The model review is more than simply a second set of eyes; it is a technical model review and a corporate governance tool.

Implementing change or improving an existing financial model takes time. In the short term, there are little measures that can be taken to improve the model. In essence the low-hanging fruit of model improvements.